Hearing Postponed

This morning we received a message on our answering machine and an email in my inbox from Julie Catala at the District 509J offices.

The message on the machine said the email was coming, had a sense of urgency, and requested that I call her as soon as a could. The email contained a .pdf copy of a letter from Superintendent Tarzian (which went in the mail this morning). The original can be found here. Following is a transcription of the actual document:

June 6, 2007

Ronald and Denise Bjarnason
(address omitted on blog post)
Corvallis, OR 97333

Dear Ron and Denise:

While my staff and I worked with the district's attorney to prepare for the upcoming appeal hearing with the School Board, we realized that one of the issues you raised had not yet been addressed. That issue involved the right of children of "low-income families" to attend without tuition any kindergarten program offered beyond half time. We contacted the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to seek guidance. ODE staff realized they were unsure how to interpret the laws and requested a legal opinion from the State Attorney General's Office.

I am committed to ensuring that we have examined and commented on every aspect of your complaint, which is what the School Board expects. I am, therefore, requesting that your appeal hearing scheduled for June 11, 2007 be postponed until after the Attorney General's Office has rendered an opinion. Even though it might take a couple of months, we will remain in contact with the staff there and will be in contact with you after receiving the opinion.

Sincerely,

Dawn Tarzian
Superintendent

DT:jc

I called Julie, and indicated that we realize that the point of having a hearing is so that a vote can be held, and that it's pointless to hold a vote while we are waiting for the Attorney General's Office to issue a ruling. Because of this, we agree to the postponement of the hearing.

I also was very clear to Julie that we are frustrated that we are getting this letter at this point in the process. We feel we have been very clear in explaining each of our issues, and it is because this particular issue has not been addressed that we have continued to escalate the issue. It is not fair that we receive this letter only 4 days prior to the actual hearing date.

I indicated to Julie that I would be preparing a response to this letter, and that I would like the response to be sent to the following people:

Superintendent Dawn Tarzian
All School Board members (sitting and incoming)
the Oregon Department of Education
the Attorney General's Office

I indicated that I'll be preparing my response today and will get it to her tomorrow.